Objective
Biofilms are bacteria consortia, embedded in a self-secreted 'gel' matrix which provides bacteria with significant advantages for their survival and proliferation. Owing to this successful strategy, biofilms may be found virtually anywhere, provided some nutrients are available. Beneficial examples include biofilm-based wastewater treatment systems. On the 'negative' side, biofilms may cause disease transmission or trigger infections from medical implants; biofilms are a cause for increased resistance of heat-exchange equipment and clogging of filtration columns, water distribution pipes, drip-irrigation emitters and, the focus of this study - membrane separation modules. The latter are of particularly great importance as state-of-the-art technology for water treatment and desalination. Owing to this wide range of applications, biofilms have been extensively studied. In spite of these efforts, the interplay between the characteristics of a velocity field and biofilm distribution and composition remain largely illusive, particularly in complex velocity fields, such as those arising in the presence of flow obstructions.
The overreaching goal of this project is to develop a mechanistic, quantitative approach to understanding the effect of hydrodynamics on bacterial deposition and biofilm development in the presence of a flow obstruction; a micro-fluidic approach will be developed for characterizing biofilm development under various hydrodynamic and physico-chemical conditions. Concurrently, two- and three-dimensional simulations of the flow field will be performed, so as to connect hydrodynamic characteristics, such as secondary flows, to the deposition patterns as well as biofilm morphology and composition.
The model system to be considered will have direct implication for the design and operation of membrane-based desalting. However, in a wider context, the methodology developed may be applied to study biofilms in any other flowing systems.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- engineering and technology chemical engineering separation technologies desalination
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology implants
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
32000 Haifa
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.